The DOOM OST Inducted Into the Library of Congress

Only two other video games have ever been selected.

There are certain institutions here in the U.S. where you just don't expect to see things like video games pop up. Whatever the reason for the bias against the medium, it undeniably exists. However, as time passes, some of these institutions change their views and start opening the doors a bit. In this case, that institution is the Library of Congress, specifically the Recording Registry. Welcome, one and all, the OST of the 1993 classic DOOM to the fold.

The only other two video games to receive such an honor are Super Mario Bros. and the Ground Theme from that game's sountrack, and the entirety of Minecraft's OST. Now, DOOM has joined their ranks, beating the odds against 3,000 other nominees. Here's a bit about the game's composer Bobby Prince from the Library of Congress website:

Prince, a lifelong musician and practicing lawyer, was fascinated by the MIDI technology that rose in prominence in the mid-1980s as a means for instrument control and composition, an interest that led to his earliest work composing video games. For “Doom,” Prince took inspiration from a pile of CDs loaned by the game’s chief designer, John Romero, including seminal works by Alice in Chains, Pantera and Metallica.

DOOM's adrenaline-drenched soundtrack stretched the limits of what video game music could be and remains iconic all these years later. Congrats are in order for Prince and the entire DOOM crew making it into the Library of Congress like this, certainly, but it is an... intriguing inclusion. One track of SMB versus all of the Minecraft soundtrack? We'll see which other games make the cut in coming years, but let us know what you think online!

Source: Library of Congress Website